My BIG Goal Update #1

 

As many of you know I am planning to downsize and move sometime within the next five years, give or take.  As I have mentioned in previous posts I want to wait until I no longer have pets to care for and therefore that is going to establish my actual timeline.  I will also need to take the economic climate into account when that time arrives.  With that being said however, I have a lot of options as far as how and where I want to eventually land.  I might go with a condo, a tiny home or I may go transient for awhile and then decide where and how I want to establish my next home.  Right now, as I sit here typing, I am pretty sure I will be going transient for awhile and that has me extremely excited!

 

My hope is to find a minivan, possibly a Dodge Grand Caravan or a Chrysler Town & Country, I’m leaning toward the Town & Country, in nice used condition with low miles and the stow and go seats.  I know it will take me some time to find exactly what I am looking for, but I happen to have plenty of time so I’m not worried, however I’d like to have it at least a year in advance so I can put it together and make any necessary repairs or upgrades it may require.  I also want to test it out before I hit the road for good.

 

I’ve started round four to continue decluttering my home.  In the process I’m collecting items I already have that will work for the van.  I plan to see if I can reuse the twin mattress and bed frame in the guest room so I’ve set aside some bedding, a sheet set and a blanket, for it in a zippered vinyl bag.  I’ve also set aside a comforter and a quilt.  Eventually I will add a pillow or two.  I’m thinking two so I can prop myself up in bed and read or work a crossword puzzle.  I will try to also reuse the bed frame, but if it won’t work I plan to build one that will.  Either way I hope to be able to utilize the space underneath the bed to store a lot of my things.  That will be important.

 

In the meantime I’m going to be upgrading my camping gear with van life in mind.  That notion kind of drove most of the Christmas gifts I got from my BFF which included a pop up shower tent with a collapsible potty and a super cool wind break for my camp stove.  I was so excited when I opened these and I’m even more excited to test them out this summer.

 

Also, as I go through the house, I’m collecting items that I will be selling in a final “estate” sale once I’m ready to launch.  I’m pricing these items at very reasonable prices with the goal to sell as much as I can and then donate the remainder which I hope is very little so I don’t have to load up a bunch of stuff and haul it somewhere.  I’m storing the sales items in the downstairs bedroom as it will be the perfect place for me to work on this process.  Everything will be clean and in good usable order too so people will want to buy stuff.  By the time all is said and done it should turn out to be a good sale, I think.  And!  I plan to never have another sale like this ever again in my life!

 

This year I’m also planning to do a low spend year so that I can save as much of my money as I can to put toward the van and getting it ready to roll.  I plan to invest all of my extra money I accrue and allow it to grow as much as possible prior to buying the van.  I want to focus my money in the direction of travel rather than on buying a bunch of crap I don’t need and will only end up having to get rid of later.

 

That brings you up to speed on where I am at as far as my next big adventure is concerned.  God willing I will make it happen and I am super excited about all of the places I will be going and all of the things I’ll get to see and experience.  It will be worth the wait and all of the preparation I will be doing ahead of time.